1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for specifying connection settings between network devices, and specifically relates to specifying connection settings between network devices by using device identification information that uniquely identifies each network device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a Storage Area Network (SAN), a plurality of servers and a plurality of storages are connected to one network, and security settings are specified to restrict communications between the servers and the storages. To specify the security settings, a World Wide Name (WWN) is specified, in advance, uniquely for fiber channel (FC) ports in FC network devices such as servers, storages, and FC switches. Examples of the WWN include a World Wide Node Name (WWNN) that identifies a device and a World Wide Port Name (WWPN) that identifies an FC port.
For example, an FC switch connects between servers and storages performs setting called zoning. In the zoning setting, FC ports of Host Bus Adaptors (HBAs) in servers and FC ports of storages are divided into groups called zones with the use of WWNs so that access across the zones is restricted.
A server performs setting called target binding. In the target binding setting, the target ID of a storage is associated with the WWN of the storage so that the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol is mapped to the FC protocol.
A storage specifies setting called host affinity. In the host affinity setting, the HBAs of servers are defined in correspondence with a storage using their respective WWNs so that access from servers having undefined WWNs can be restricted.
Generally, a large number of FC network devices are connected to an SAN. For this reason, to specify the security settings as described above, it is necessary to set a huge number of WWNs to FC network devices, and a large amount of labor is required. This is true not only when a network is initially constructed, but also when some of the FC network devices are replaced due to a failure or the like. In this case, it is necessary to change settings of WWNs for all FC network devices that are related to the FC network devices to be replaced. Consequently, a large amount of labor is also required.
With regard to the operation to construct an SAN including security setting, the large amount of labor and time required by the operation is becoming an issue, and various techniques for reducing the labor and time have been proposed. For example, International Publication Pamphlet No. 03/085894 discloses an apparatus that facilitates the design of an SAN. The conventional apparatus previously inputs therein device information of FC network devices that constitute an SAN, and displays a virtual image of the configuration of a network generated based on the information. Thus, the SAN can be designed easily by visually checking the virtual image.
Even with the conventional apparatus, however, it is necessary to change settings of all related FC network devices so that the labor and time required for the operation cannot be reduced much.
Thus, there is a need of a technology capable of reducing the labor required to change settings of the device identification information.